Argentina host the All Blacks this morning, in what should be a fascinating and bruising battle. Join us for live scores from 8am AEST, and feel free to leave a comment below.
Three weeks after their last battle in Napier, virtually the same teams will reengage for a second stab at each other today in Buenos Aires.
Although the All Blacks were triumphant by almost twenty points in the end, the Pumas may have reason to be a little satisfied. A 12-ranked team put the best squad in the world under pressure in the fundamental part of rugby – the scrum.
The All Blacks, having observed the Wallabies performance against Argentina, will be keen to turn around their own scrum. The tight five from both sides are almost the same as their last encounter. The exception is 35-year-old hooker Keven Mealamu stepping in for Dan Coles, who will stay home for the birth of his first child. The Chiefs hooker Nathis Harris will come in at bench.
Pumas 130kg boy-mountain second rower Lavanini will return following a one match ban after his last encounter against New Zealand. Another returnee is flanker Jerome Kaino – back from injury.
As Ma’a Nonu was injured in their last game, the All Blacks will field Malakai Fekitoa at centre, who will look to step his way through an array of Argentinean defenders. He will be complemented by Julian Savea, Ben Smith, Israel Dagg and Beauden Barrett to boot. Barrett comes for Aaron Cruden who was stood down for this game due to off-field behaviour.
Argentina’s star half-back Martin Landajo will come in as an impact player. Tomas Cubelli will start along with flyhalf partner Nicolas Sanchez. Impressive try scoring winger Manuel Montero will also start along with wing-mate Juan Imhoff.
The Pumas scrum is their flagship offensive weapon. They have put the Springboks scrum to the sword twice and the All Blacks once. But they failed to deliver the same kind of performance against the Wallabies. They will look to lift this part of the game again, and combat the loose scrum in earnest.
The All Blacks, on the other hand, have now played 21 consecutive matches without a loss. Their previous record is 23. Savea continues to score tries: 26 in 26 games. He will look to score more in this game – perhaps closer to the posts, because of the All Blacks poor goal kicking form.
In their last game, which was against the Wallabies, the Argentinians have shown great skill and initiative by keeping ball in hand during the second half. They almost won the match. They will probably want to continue this, retain possession and try to challenge the All Blacks game.
Join us from 8am for a call of the game. It should be a cracker!
scrumma
Guest
Yep, i can't wait for this game, as much as it is important to win at home , it is even sweeter to win away, allblacksalldayeveryday=allblacks4life......................aurahhhhhhh.
markie362
Guest
Sbw hasnt set the nrl alight and has been worked out.still good player but mf the future
Batdown
Guest
He is 104kg of muscle with the legs of a prop but enough speed to have played test rugby on the wing. He is also deceptively agile with a step that fools many would-be tacklers expecting to get hit by a truck carrying a rugby ball.
Batdown
Guest
Ma’a Nonu has proved his pedigree time and time again, he is the best no.12 in NZ.
Batdown
Guest
Batdown
Guest
No need to back up my claim Sort, Nonu has proved his pedigree time and time again, he is the best no.12 in NZ. He is 104kg of muscle with the legs of a prop but enough speed to have played test rugby on the wing. He is also deceptively agile with a step that fools many would-be tacklers expecting to get hit by a truck carrying a rugby ball. He has the footwork and kicking game to penetrate like Crotty and has the immense size and speed to bust a line like SBW. (Nonu can offload but SBWs offloads are mind blowing!) His distribution skills have been exceptional with a stand out example being South Africa's Soweto fortress where he broke through a determined SB line (with one rugby boot on!) to send Israel Dagg through for the match winning try! Reliable, consistent and tough with a proven track record to boot. (even without a boot lol!) A stand out performer.
Two Cents
Guest
Valid point RT. Probably not the best choice of words to articulate my argument. I will just stick to the only the guarantees in life is taxes and death. Granted that there is still a lot of water to flow under the bridge to the next World Cup, however I still believe if Nonu is fit and on form he will be the 1st choice 2nd 5/8. ABOS ranking of Nonu as the 4th choice 2nd 5/8 in NZ seems bizzare and amusing. Ranking Fekitoa higher than Nonu based on 1 game as a starting 2nd 5/8 for the AB’s against the 11th Ranked team in the world is a little premature. Also I believe that Fekitoa is being groomed as Conrad Smith successor as a centre who can also play 2nd 5/8. SBW is an extremely gifted athlete however he has not played any rugby in the past 2 seasons and his form in the NRL this season imo had dipped from the previous season. Also it is hard to gauge SBW current form if he would be effective in AB's as he has previously. I actually think he has made his run too late to try and be the incumbent 2nd 5/8, his only saviour is his excellent combination with Cruden and a breakout season with the Chiefs next season, but only time will tell. I ranked Crotty above SBW because he has been in great form in Rugby Championship and has had runs on the board with the AB’s and I think he has more of rugby nous than SBW. However Crotty only downside is his size factor. If there is a player that I think that could be a dark horse for next year in the midfield for the AB’s it is the probably return of Richard Kahui, providing that he is fit and healthy come World Cup.
Sorted
Guest
I thought the Ref did a good job. I didn't agree with all his rulings, but felt it went both ways. I thought the Puma's were lucky with both of their first half penalties. The first penalty where Dagg took out Cubelli looked much worse in slow-mo and I just wonder what Dagg was supposed to do to get out of the way and not impede the kicker. When McCaw was pinged for the second shot at goal, I also had concerns with the ruling. He was on side in the ruck, so why can't he kick the ball. I realise that the ref was consistent in his ruling with this and pinged the Pumas for a similar act later in the game. I think the Puma's were very slow and lazy about getting out of the way at ruck time, and this is why they got penalised so often early in the game. The AB's like to play at pace, and move the ball quickly from breakdowns, this puts pressure on opposition players to get out of the way, and when they don't it's great that the ref jumps in. The Puma's learnt from this and changed their habit of lying in the way, the penalties then stopped. Great refereeing that stopped spoiling play and made for a better game.
Sorted
Guest
Sorry Batdown, I'd like you to back up your claim that Nonu has been a standout. He has had good solid games, but has not been a standout in any game. I've got to agree with the other comments. The 3 guys that have filled in at 12, Crotty, Smith and now Fekitoa, all performed at least as well as Nonu.
ben
Guest
Your other comments on this thread clearly blame the ref. Its 8.43am on monday in beautiful denerau fiji. I will have a nice day. You try and have 1 too.
RobC
Roar Guru
cheers RT. Agree with Chan Kaino doing v well. Needs to keep injure free. Boks will challenge the backrow with Messam on.
katzilla
Roar Guru
Yeah but he pinged Lobbe for the same thing, so at least he was consistent. And thats all anyone could ask for.
Batdown
Guest
To my mind NZ, SA and Australia have a distinct advantage having the S15 and their own internal national competition to develop their players, tactics and team. Have we seen the best team Argentina has to give? I suspect perhaps not.
Batdown
Guest
Nonu has been one of the All Blacks stand out performers. Ma'a is the standard all future All Black number 12s have to meet. He is far from overhyped and by the way, irrelevant words such as tired, old and overrated can be put to the sword too.
Nobrain
Guest
Sorry you feel that way, but if you read well my comment I have expressed many times that the ref was is and was not the reason we lost. If you fail to understand that there is not point of argument. What you want me to say? We speak a different language and we acnnot expressed massibly on the roar? When I read your comments I beleive that you are expresing what you feel and what is your point of view about something, well I expect you do the same. I have clearly said that I will watch the game again and then I will give my opinion which until now are the ones I colected from the stadium. It is. 7:35 am on sunny Sunday over here, so first I am going to enjoy it and then watch the game. Have a nice day.
Chan Wee
Guest
KAINO is real bad ass :) He went to Japan , lost a few killos and got a lot faster. He always had the power but now he has an extra yard of pace. Messam has no chance unless there is an injury.
Wardad
Guest
No it was fairly refereed , Argentina will be able to show their true worth in the RWC next year after playing together through a few pool games . Some NH sides will struggle against a full strength Argentina .
ben
Guest
The old "i must be right cos lots of others agreed with me" arguement ai!! Well lots of abs fans and british i spoke to said the ref was great and favoured the home team a bit otherwise the abs woulda won by more!! In reality the argies every game in this comp give penalties away needlessly. They are their own worst enemy. Especially the game against the boks, they are spoilers and dont mind giving away penalties not to win but to limit the score. I notice rather than commenting on the actual rugby related issues that prevent argentina winning in this comp you always pump the ref as being argentinas issue. Kinda like that grasshopper that decided to wear green tinted glasses during winter.
Common Sense
Roar Rookie
I still have no idea what Perenara was trying to achieve half of the time.
Nobrain
Guest
You got tired from the game in SA, well it seems that jetlag has an effect on all of us., jajajaja.